Abstract:

Approximately 50 grams of white muscle tissue was removed from reef fish to perform stable isotope analysis. Muscle tissue samples were dried at 60°C for at least 24 hours, and then ground into a fine powder with a glass or agate mortar and pestle. Mortars and pestles were cleaned with 2% nitric acid and rinsed with Milli-Q water between samples to prevent cross contamination. Ground samples containing between 0.2 and 0.5 g of pulverized dried tissue were placed in sterile plastic centrifuge tubes and shipped to a contract laboratory to perform analysis of d13C, d15N, and d34S with a Europa Scientific GSL/Geo 20-20 stable isotope ratio-mass spectrometer (SIR-MS). The isotopic ratio of a sample relative to the ratio in a standard was reported as a delta value.

Suggested Citation:

Patterson III, William F, Joseph Tarnecki, and Charles Jagoe. 2015. Stable isotope data from reef fish collected at natural reefs sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico from November 2010 – August 2011.. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7JM27KV

Publications:

Patterson III, W. F., Chanton, J. P., Hollander, D. J., Goddard, E. A., Barnett, B. K., & Tarnecki, J. H. (2019). The Utility of Stable and Radioisotopes in Fish Tissues as Biogeochemical Tracers of Marine Oil Spill Food Web Effects. Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills, 219–238. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12963-7_13

Purpose:

Stable Isotope analysis was used to supplement diet data to examine reef fish trophic ecology. Results from stable isotope analysis provide insight into primary carbon source, trophic position, and benthic versus pelagic feeding.

Data Parameters and Units:

Date (date sample collected MM/DD/YYYY), Sample ID (sample’s identification number), Species (common name) [Amberjack, Leopard Toadfish, Tunny, Snapper, Triggerfish, Scamp, Porgy, Bigeye, Creole Fish, Bass, Tomtate, Hind, Perch, Drum, Cobia, Puffer, Flounder, Tuna, Grouper, Scorpionfish, Tilefish, Hake], FL (fork length in mm), Mass (fish’s mass in kg), Site (sample site name), Elemental N % (percent nitrogen by mass), Elemental C % (percent carbon by mass), delta 15N Air % (nitrogen stable isotope delta value relative to air standard), delta 13C V-PDB % (carbon stable isotope delta value relative to Pee Dee Belemnite standard), delta 34S V-CDT % (nitrogen stable isotope delta value relative to Vienna Canyon Diablo Troilite standard).

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